I’m often recommending books to friends and thought I’d broaden my reach with this blog. My grandmother , who noted every book she read, was my inspiration to do the same. With my frequent travel habits I’ve decided it’s time to move my jottings from paper to the flexibility and weightlessness of a blog. If you are planning a purchase from Amazon, please support this site by using one of the links lower down on the left side of the page. Thank you!

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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

I read this twice; the first time I got a
little side-tracked by the story within a story – the book written by Tom; back
to him later. The second time though, I read for the sheer pleasure of the
South American descriptions, the happy coincidences, and the satisfaction of
knowing that everything turned out just as it should, much like it does in a
Kate Atkinson novel. The violence, rape, hypocrisy, poverty, drugs, and plain
meanness of this world are not spared us. The reality is that refugees are
refugees for a reason – and these reasons frequently have their origin in the
habits and behaviours of those of us in “developed” countries. Robbins doesn’t
hesitate to point this out, and the message is even more timely and relevant
today than it was back in the early 1990’s when this book was originally
written.

This is the story of Silvia, a refugee from
an unnamed South American country who winds up in London after her father is
murdered. Her story is every refugee’s: one of fear, confusion, and a life in limbo. Today
the British government (and several others, noticeably Australia’s) would most
likely shove her into a detention camp to suffer humiliation for an unknown
length of time. In our novel, Silvia is taken up by Harriet and Tom, wealthy
and hypocritical “do-gooders” who see the chance of a free “au-pair” to look
after their young son. Through carefully constructed flash-backs we learn
Silvia’s story. The vibrant descriptions of her life back home transport us to
South America. Robbin’s skill takes us immediately and vividly into her home
and her life, the car journeys with her family, the terrifying bus trip to
escape the murderous military. His acute sense of place is no less effective
when describing London locations and characters. Tom is the anti-hero, an
egotistical writer so wrapped up in himself and his work that he utterly fails
to notice in Silvia the intelligence and talent that she possesses in vastly
superior quantities to his own. My only criticism is that although I understand
the desired irony of the story within a story, I would have preferred a
stronger focus on Silvia’s world (in all aspects), and a different way to point
out Tom’s less than stellar qualities.

In his introduction Robbin’s points out
that “any book is of its time and is best left there.” I beg to differ – the
issue of refugees is, if anything, even more relevant today. I would like to
see this book, with a bit of work, possibly longer, republished. These are issues
that we all need to be talking about.